MetroLink project to reopen to public consultation amid submission of ‘significant’ new information

An Bord Pleanála is to order the reopening of public consultation on the €9.5 billion MetroLink line following the submission of new information by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) during a six-week hearing on the rail project.

The hearing on the 18.8km rail line from Swords to Charlemont, with 16 stops serving areas including Dublin Airport and the city centre, is scheduled to end this week. However, TII has been told it must publish new material it submitted during the hearing.

Close to 200 additional documents were submitted during the hearing, including 39 on the first day. Some of the documents were administrative and related to the running order of the hearing, others dealt with agreements that had been reached with property owners along the line.

However, several people who addressed the hearing had noted the introduction of significant new information on the project by TII which they had not had the opportunity to consider before making their submissions to the board.

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Board inspector Barry O’Donnell confirmed on Tuesday there would be a “requirement to re-advertise” which would come in due course and anyone who had made submissions on the MetroLink application would have an opportunity to “comment in detail” on the new information.

Paolo Carbone, head of public transport and capital projects at TII on Tuesday said he was “pleased that the inspector has indicated that all of the new material, provided by the applicant at the hearing, will be advertised publicly and there will be an opportunity for interested parties to make submissions”.

He said: “In the interest of consultation and to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate fully in the process TII welcomes this development.”

Transport Infrastructure Ireland said it will wait to be officially notified by the board of the requirements about the publication of the additional information before it issues the advertisement which will detail how the documentation can be accessed, how people can make any submissions on the material and the deadline for those.

While it is expected the hearings will close this week, it is not known whether the board will reopen public hearings to allow oral statements to be made on the material, or if additional submissions would be considered in writing only.

Speaking before the hearing started, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said he was confident the board would issue its decision on MetroLink by the end of this year. It is not known if the reopening of public consultation will affect this timeline.

A spokeswoman for the board said it cannot make any further comment because the case remains before it.

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